Poor educators take difficult material and further obscure the subject. Good teachers can take the same material and package it in a way that all can understand.   There are few Coaches in the Strength and Conditioning industry that fit the mold of “teacher”. Dan John is one of those coaches. Michelangelo once said: “simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” The simplicity Coach John employs is an inspiration to all coaches caught in the world of quick gimmicks, fads, broken promises, Internet “gurus”, armchair trainers, Greek philosophers, unnamed forum posters, and overnight success stories. The quantity of information floating around (much with little substance and big price tags) can make you feel like your running in place sometimes. More often than not that’s exactly what happens in the fitness industry. I recently had the opportunity to hear Coach John lecture the staff of MBSC. His message is a “MUST” for all Coaches looking to fight the food fight.

There’s a lot of glimmer and sparkle in the fitness industry these days that comes at the expense of substance: Twitter accounts, Facebook pages, YouTube videos, blogs, articles, “likes”, “follows” and every other form of social marketing under the sun. While I certainly don’t blame fellow practitioners for jumping on the social media scene (I have), finding quality information is like mining for gold.  According to Wikipedia: “Gold has been a valuable and highly sought-after precious-metal for coinage, jewelry, and other arts since long before the beginning of recoded history.” In other words, gold is a valuable resource! Fool’s gold on the other hand is very common, so common in fact that in the earth's crust it is found in almost every possible environment, hence it has a vast number of forms and varieties. I believe the same holds true regarding information in the fitness industry. Plenty of resources, but few that hold their value in gold. Below are three ways to mine for gold in the fitness industry.

As strength and conditioning professionals our job is to provide a safe platform for our athletes to develop strength, power, speed and other specific variables that can directly impact athletic performance. Simply put, we manage stress for a living. We prescribe specific doses of stress to elicit desired adaptation(s).   Too little we fail to alter performance. Too much, overtraining and organism breakdown are the result.  It is our goal to apply the right amount of stress at the right time to allow adaptation to occur (hypertrophy, strength, power ect.).

Program design fascinates me!   So many unique elements make up the system that seeks to elicit results for various client populations. It takes years to master and is continuously under construction. As the saying goes, the best program is the one that you’re not currently on. Coach Boyle wrote an excellent article last year called “Should You Stick to the Recipe?”   This article is perfect for young, intermediate coaches who seek to build their own programs/recipes. The evolutionary stages of cook, sous-chef, and finally head chef are excellent analogies pertaining to learning the science of program design. Another important element is the menu. Once the recipe is mastered, there needs to be a menu set in place for your customers. What happens if a certain customer doesn’t eat red meat (they can’t squat) or is a vegetarian (had shoulder surgery)? Menu planning is an art. Here are the three stages of designing your own strength and conditioning menu. As Coaches, our goal is to design a menu that fits the needs of our customers.

“Character is made by what you stand for; reputation, by what you fall for.” (Robert Quillen) I’ve always believed that coaches have the unique ability to make a profound impact on the life of young minds. Strength and Conditioning is no different, the life lessons we preach at Donskov Strength and Conditioning move well beyond free weights, chalk, and hang cleans. We have worked to create an environment of accountability, attention to detail, work ethic, pride, perseverance, team first and FUN! It is our belief that these values are far more important than weights pushed or pulled and can be applied to all aspects of life.  This environment has also created a loyal following of dedicated, hard working people. These are the intangibles that create success regardless of sport. This is whom I want on my team! “There are certain qualities that you look for in people, whether you are on a football team or in business. You look for people who are committed, devoted, and doing the best job. Talent isn’t going to matter either. I’ll take the guy who is out breaking his butt over a guy with talent in a close situation every time. I may get my butt beat a few times, but in the long run, I’ll win because I’ll have the guy with more character.” (Mike Ditka)

Accidents happen, so make sure to buckle up! The physical need(s) for athletes varies depending on the population being trained. Contact sports are subject to high impact collisions, traumatic injury mechanism and a higher rate of concussions (concussion education/testing is at an all time high within the governing bodies of contact sports, including The National Hockey League).  In other words, “accidents” happen on a daily basis. There were 44 hits in the average regular-season NHL game in 2009-10; that number went up to 63 in the playoffs, a jump of 43 percent. (NHL.com) Below are three training considerations for collision athletes. Buckle up and enjoy the ride!

The “Functional” training era is upon us in the strength and conditioning world. The importance of multi-joint movement is paramount in building effective, results driven programming. Just mentioning the word “isolation” elicits the same response as someone trying to steal the family dog.

During my days as a youth, I was never a big fan of visiting the doctors’ office. Just the sight of a white coat made my heart race faster than a pace car at the Indianapolis 500. Maybe it was the fear of getting a shot, or the doctor asking me to turn and cough, either way you cut it, I had white coat syndrome! Fast forward to the present and my profession as a Strength and Conditioning Coach. The best coaches in the business use evidence based practice, meshing research with practical application to form safe, and effective protocol for their respective populations. Research however is a touchy subject. What journals are considered “credible”? How old is the study? What population was used to prove/disprove a theory? Does the study classify a “group” and not individualize certain characteristics (i.e. weight, height, age, lifestyle, sport career, previous injury, level of exercise, ect)? The list goes on and on! Research/Evidence is very important, and with all if this information at hand, many Coaches can get white coat syndrome (overwhelmed and hesitant to proceed).

I don’t like comparing sports or strength and conditioning to war.It’s an insult to our fine service men and women that sacrifice their lives in order for us to do what we do.This is far more important than goals, assists, touchdowns and turnovers.I do however, find they’re ranking system fascinating and think we as aspiring coaches can learn from these brave soldiers.Rank is based on EXPERIENCE! You don’t start out as a general; you put in countless hours (early mornings, late nights) as a foot soldier learning from high-ranking commanders and executing pre set commands.You spend trench time making mistakes. You spend trench time using two ears and one mouth.You spend trench time learning and applying.You spend trench gaining valuable experience.You spend trench time in hostile situations.You spend trench time gaining the respect of your fellow soldiers and leaders. This is how you earn your stripes.It’s a continuous process, a pursuit of excellence that takes many, many years to accomplish.What does this possibly have to do with strength and conditioning you may ask?It has everything to do with it!